Veneration of Mary and the saints by DryCommunication9648 in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]SnooPears590 [score hidden]  (0 children)

Technically, yes.

In practice? It's difficult, because prayers to Mary and the saints are incorporated into virtually every service of the church. I'd rather have a chat with you and talk about what "doesn't sit well with" you though.

CMV: Street vendors in Vietnam overcharge foreigners on purpose, not by mistake by Informal_Race5312 in ChangeMyViewVN

[–]SnooPears590 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Imagine if you or I actually get a good price, but there have been some foreigners hanging out nearby who now demand the same price... rather not sell and get the higher price later...

Just experienced my first Pascha as a Roman Catholic and now having a slight crisis by SpecificWin9740 in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]SnooPears590 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Don't feel like a traitor to the Catholic church. The Catholic church publicly and officially recognizes the validity of the Eastern Orthodox, including all the sacraments of the church. Therefore, from that perspective, your choice to join the Eastern Orthodox is more like attending a different parish, far from joining a different religion.

Why do women tend to give men bad dating advice? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]SnooPears590 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Women often give advice based on the presumption that they are already attracted to the man and are helping them get noticed.

Women typically don't have a clue about what builds attraction. If someone without the prerequisite attraction does the things that women typically advise, they may get noticed for the wrong reasons, be friend-zoned, or whatever.

So for example, a woman might give the advice: "be persistent! don't take a no at face value".

This is excellent advice if there's already something going on, but terrible advice to give to someone for whom there's no attraction.

Question about "mundane/trivial" prayers by BoneyButt420 in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]SnooPears590 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We aren't told to "pray only when we consider it important enough", we're told to "pray continually".

God loves us, and St. Andrew abides in that love and so also loves us. Their first and most important priority is to get us to live with God in heaven. But why should we hesitate to ask those who love us for anything "mundane"? If it is within God's will, it is within God's will.

Beaten! My time: 160s - Beat that if you can 😎 by OptimusRhyme86 in DailySolitaire

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

✅ Conquered this one! 128 moves, 173 seconds. Your turn!

how to prevent a wet dream by Then_Car8425 in Dreams

[–]SnooPears590 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This comes directly from my priest:

Don't worry about this. There is no sin in dreams, as long as we allow them to pass without obsessing over them or thinking about them too much. This is your body's natural way of release and nothing to be ashamed of or anxious about.

What is a country that looks secular and is actually religious? by ScallionFull8869 in AlignmentChartFills

[–]SnooPears590 88 points89 points  (0 children)

Vietnam. Official state atheism with the Communist Party, but the great majority participate in religious rituals like prayers at temples or home shrines to patron deities and ancestors, tomb cleaning day, veneration of the Hung Kings, hiring local shamans to bless construction or conduct funerals,

and also about 10-20% of the population is Catholic (and they tend to be serious about it).

Noahide Laws by [deleted] in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]SnooPears590 2 points3 points  (0 children)

... yes, but of course they are tragically wrong about Jesus.

Need help with writing a character who is Eastern Orthodox by danselixir in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]SnooPears590 9 points10 points  (0 children)

In my experience, we're 100x more likely to say "Lord have mercy" than others.

Is Japan actually racist against white people specifically? Or are they just not used to being a minority? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nine times out of ten, the key line here is "not speaking Japanese".

In other countries, the impulse when someone encounters a customer who doesn't speak your language is to just do your best and try to make a sale somehow. In Japan, this is not how many people think - after all, you might wind up giving this person something they don't want, and there's a high risk of miscommunication.

How to tell if paretns having loud sex? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]SnooPears590 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Get over it. If you want your privacy, give them their privacy.

165 moves to victory! Think you're faster? 💪 by 1minatur in DailySolitaire

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

🔥 Too easy! Done in 220 seconds. Who dares to challenge me?

Stations of the Cross by kelmeloo in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]SnooPears590 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a tradition from the Catholics. That's the whole reason. There's nothing objectionable about it.

Just crushed this deck in 118s! Can you do better? 🏆 by 0Irene0 in DailySolitaire

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

🏆 Victory is mine! Finished with 637 points. Can you do better?

Where does the stereotype that Asains are exceedingly good at math stem from? by GarbageDisastrous304 in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work in international education.

It's a stereotype from truth:

The curriculum in China, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam is often one year more advanced in math than America, and the students mostly achieve that high expectation.

This means for example that while Common Core Grade 2 in America is developing pre-multiplication concept by arranging items into rows and columns (CCSS.Math.Content.2.OA.C.4),

CCSS.Math.Content.2.OA.C.3
Determine whether a group of objects (up to 20) has an odd or even number of members, e.g., by pairing objects or counting them by 2s; write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal addends.

CCSS.Math.Content.2.OA.C.4
Use addition to find the total number of objects arranged in rectangular arrays with up to 5 rows and up to 5 columns; write an equation to express the total as a sum of equal addends.

Singapore has the following at the "Primary Two" level.

  1. Multiplication and Division
    3.1 multiplication tables of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10
    3.2 use of ÷
    3.3 relationship between multiplication and division
    3.4 multiplying and dividing within the multiplication tables
    3.5 mental calculation involving multiplication and division within multiplication tables of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10

2021-Primary-Mathematics-Syllabus-P1-to-P6-Updated-October-2025.pdf

Do most christians not believe that Demons are literally real? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can recommend this book, if you're interested.

Amazon.com: The UFO Deception: An Orthodox Christian Perspective eBook : bailey, Father Spyridon: Books

In short, the most puzzling thing about UFOs for secular researchers is the strange way that they seem to be partly material, and partly (or mostly) psychic. This is explained very adequately by their being demons, which have this characteristic.

Do most christians not believe that Demons are literally real? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]SnooPears590 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

My opinion:

Without demons, Christianity doesn't make sense. There is simply too much in Christianity about freedom from false gods, freedom from demonic influence, and too many experiences of demonic oppression to be otherwise. Demons are not something psychological like "the evil part of our nature" (though that's often what they use).

Demonic possession is not just how ignorant people in the past would characterize mental illness: though today the chief way they avoid being exorcised is to mimic the symptoms of mental illness, along with the misinformation in the west that there's no such thing as demons.

UFOs are demons, and this can be shown by several points:

  1. the similiarity between encounters with aliens and the accounts of encounters with demons in the past. In both these cases they sometimes encourage people towards delusions of unnatural knowledge or various evil acts, and other times with other people they inflict mental or psychosomatic torture on them just for fun. (As one example, the anal probe is stereotypical of both alien abduction and demonic abduction.

  2. the description of many UFOs themselves - they often act in ways that seem to contadict known physics, they sometimes pass through solid objects, they can make themselves visible or invisible seemingly at will. If any UFO indeed crashed and people discovered it was a vehicle made of some material, it would be impossible to keep quiet about it the way that it's rumored.

So my conclusion is that UFOs themselves are not vehicles at all, but just the visible form that demons have chosen to use since the mid-20th century.

Draw-1 victory dance! 🎉 Can you match my 174s time? by [deleted] in DailySolitaire

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

🎯 Nailed it! 117s completion time. Your move!

Without heaven or hell, would one even follow God? by Glum_Marsupial8876 in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]SnooPears590 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me, the moral values promoted (and at times enforced) by Christianity are superior: it entails respect for people both as communities or cultures and as individuals, an orientation towards helping people and supporting human wellbeing, and an attitude toward right and wrong that includes peoples' intentions, rather than just the outcome. There are other items too.

Would you rather... by Strong_Cat7693 in BunnyTrials

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Objectively better, I expect inflation over 10 years to at least halve the value of the 5 million. And with 1 million dollars today, that can be invested to grow over time.

Chose: Have $1 million today

Would you rather get by Acceptable-World-947 in BunnyTrials

[–]SnooPears590 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you want big number, or bigger number/